A Spooktacular Night at Citrus County Speedway

This past Saturday night marked the annual Halloween extravaganza at Citrus County Speedway. Hundreds of children turned out in full costume to take in some safe and fun trick or treating. Drivers turned out in force for the children, with 112 cars and drivers provided tasty treats for the speedways young fans, as well as some exciting racing action.

School bus figure 8 racing was what everyone came to see, and Citrus County Speedway did not disappoint with 24 buses in two different races. School bus race #1 saw a familiar figure 8 veteran show the rest of the field how to get it done. Joey Catarelli would take advantage of his front row starting spot and jump out to the early lead. 5^th place starter Dustin Aaron would quickly give chase to Catarelli, moving into the 2^nd position early in the race. In the end, lapped traffic would stall Aarons’ effort to get to the top spot, leaving Catarelli to sail home with the victory. Aaron would come home a strong 2^nd with Mike Hinde coming home in the 3^rd position.

Bus race #2 saw Pat Hines come from the rear of the 11 bus field to challenge Andy Tweedy and Tracy Hinde for the lead. Tweedy would suffer a blown right front tire while leading, and make hard contact with the turn 1 wall. Hinde would have to check up for the accident, which allowed Hines to make the pass for the lead. Travis Osbourn would also move by to take the 2^nd spot, before Hinde could get her bus free of Tweedy. Hines would go on to take the come from behind victory, with Osbourn coming home 2^nd, and Tracy Hinde in 3^rd.

29 of the best figure 8 drivers in the state turned out for the Robert Aaron Memorial 50 lap figure 8 race. Mason Love (01) and Jimmy Kruse (82) would bring the stellar field to the green. Love would move to the lead on the start, with Bay Shore,  NY’s Roger Maynor (28) moving into the 2^nd position. The large field would go all the way till lap 11 for the 1^st caution of the night, when Jared Meyer would have a suspension failure, which sent him head on into the turn 3 wall. Love would lead on the restart, and continue until a tangle with a lapped car on lap 22 would change his luck. Love would run out of room while lapping Kruse, which caused a log jam at the front of the pack. In the end, Love, Kruse, and Joey Catarelli (6) were all involved. Love retired to the pits, and was done for the night, Catarelli rejoined the field.  New leader Maynor would now pace the field on the restart, with Catarelli in 2^nd, and Seth Nistok in 3^rd. Nistok would make a charge to the front after the restart, take the lead, and begin to drive away from the rest of the field. Lap 34 would once again see Kruse in the leaders crosshairs. Kruse’ car would stall in the intersection bringing out the caution, The 2^nd place car of Catarelli didn’t see the caution, or the stalled car of Kruse in the intersection, and plowed into the rear of Kruse’ car. 3^rd running Maynor had no place to go, and made heavy contact with the rear of Catarelli. All 3 cars receive heavy damage in the accident. Catarelli would be able to make repairs, and was the only one to return to the race. Nistok would again lead on the restart, but now had 28^th place starter Benny Harris (38) and 21^st place starter Robbie Hage (39) right on his bumper. Both drivers had run very patient races, staying out of the mayhem, an meticulously working their way to the front of the field. Nistok would again build a large lead, but congestion in the intersection would force him to slow while traffic cleared. Harris was able to time the traffic perfectly, and blow by the stationary Nistok for the lead. Hage would follow Harris through the intersection Mayhem, and set his sights on the leader. These two drivers would wage a close battle over the final 12 laps. Harris would go on to take the victory from almost dead last in a very competitive field, Hage would come home 2^nd. Point leader Wayne Calkins (14) would rebound from some early race spins to come home with a hard fought 3^rd place.

18 Sportsman took the green for their 30 lap feature, and it didn’t take long for the fireworks to fly here. Mark Peterson (73) would launch from the pole position and set and unchallenged pace over the first few laps. Behind him, the heavy hitters in the division were in a mad scramble to get to the front. Peterson would lead as the field came to complete lap 10, behind him, the Mayhem started. 2^nd running Ernie Reed (55) and point leader Brandon Morris had caught Peterson. Reed attempted a pass for the lead, but contact with Morris sent his racer for a spin. Peterson would lead again for the restart, but now had pressure from Mike Bresnahan  (69) and Aaron Williamson (13) just behind. Bresnahan would make the move for the lead on lap 13, and bring Williamson with him into the 2^nd position. 14^th place starter Cody Stickler (99) would charge to the front, and soon put pressure on Williamson for the 2^nd spot. Both cars would make contact off of turn 4 on lap 17, which sent Williamson spinning down the front stretch. The caution flag would fly again, and both cars would be sent to the rear for the restart. Green flag racing was once again short lived, as contact between Stickler and Williamson once again brought out the caution. Williamson was black flagged and sent to the pits for rough driving, Stickler was given his spot back for the restart. Bresnahan would survive a few more late race cautions to take his 1^st sportsman victory in only his 3^rd race in the division. Point leader Brandon Morris would rebound from his early race altercations to take 2^nd at the checkered, followed by Peterson in 3^rd.

10 street stocks rumbled to the green for their 25 lap feature. John Makula (27) would pace the field from his pole position for the entire feature event. Behind Makula, Bubba Martone (98) and Craig Cuzzone (88) would battle for the 2^nd position. Makula would go on to take the apparent victory, only to lose that victory in the tech area. Makula was found to have an illegal engine just a few weeks ago, when the tech inspector asked to inspect the engine this week, Makula refused and was disqualified. Bubba Martone would inherit his 1^st feature win of the season, followed by Cuzzone in 2^nd, and Jesse Veltman in 3^rd.

15 Taylor Made Homes Pure Stocks saw Tyler Stickler (9) take the victory from his 13^th starting spot. Stickler faced heavy pressure from Carl Peters (39) for the last 8 laps of the event, but Peters would have to settle for 2^nd at the finish line. Coming home in the 3^rd position was pole sitter and birthday boy Happy Florian (65).

16 Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks saw former division champ Rick Kuhn (47) return to victory lane for his 2^nd victory this season. Kuhn has focused his attention on his Modified Mini Stock for most of the season, and sits 6^th in the points standings for that division. Following Kuhn home were a hard charging Ashlee Williamson (84) in 2^nd, and Shawn Jenkins (43) in 3^rd.

This Saturday night will see the season finale’ of the Florida United Promoters late model series with their 100 lap event. Tim Russell comes in with a 29 point advantage over 2^nd place Jeff Scofield. Joining them will be the final points races for the Modified Mini Stock, Street Stock, Sheldon Palmes Insurance Mini Stocks, Hornets, and the Pro Challenge series. Please visit the track website at www.citruscountyspeedway.com or call the tack office at 352-726-9339 for complete details. See you at the races!